


The Blood of a Chosen

by WhiteWolfCub (SilverWolfCub)



Series: Bounty Hunters [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Assassins, Bounty Hunters, Cults, Dream has bad luck, Dream still isn't completely human, Family, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Hunters, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Kingdoms, Little Brother Tommy, Little Brother Tubbo, Medieval, Minecraft level magic, Neither is Techno, Royalty, Techno is sarcastic, Tubbo is Tubbo, Violence, dream team, he's a whole mood, no beta we die like men, plus a bit more, sbi, use of the word 'sweetheart' a little too much, which means he's not whole human either
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29512707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWolfCub/pseuds/WhiteWolfCub
Summary: As a hunter, he's the one who takes in bounties, that's his entire job. No matter what the mob may be, if he takes the bounty it becomes his job to take care of it.He never expected tobecomea bounty.Or, two hunter groups come together to take care of their little brothers while trying to hide the fact that some of them aren't completely human. There’s also a blood cult that’s taken an unique liking to one of them. Two guesses who.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: Bounty Hunters [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168013
Comments: 45
Kudos: 260





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, I scream in the end notes
> 
> The first fic in this series isn't required to read to understand, it just might be helpful.

_ The blade rested firmly on his neck and Dream swallowed thickly, staring at the man holding the sword up to Tubbo's throat. "You'll regret this." _

_ "It's just business." The man shrugged, face hidden under his hood. "You take your bounties, I take mine. The blood of a Chosen goes for a lot these days." _

_ He clenched his teeth, not looking at the men who surrounded him, his friends. Many different tragedies had brought them to this point, but they won't let some cloaked man get the best of them. _

  
  


Dream froze, entire body stilling at the piercing sound echoing out of the cave in front of him. It was loud and high and it rattled his eardrums, like a bat had been given steroids. He frowned, looking up.

It was still daytime, why were they awake?

Next to him George froze as well, and he could hear Sapnap curse somewhere behind him. Dream ignored them, hand clenching his axe as he took another step forward, out of the trees and into the small clearing the cave sat in. Above him, the sky was streaked with red and orange. The sun was setting.

They had to be quick.

There was another sound, this one lower, like a growl, and Dream knew it was directed at him. He took another step forward and only had a few seconds to react as a dark shape flew from the cave. Going on instinct he swung down, chopping the creature in half, right down the middle.

A phantom.

The creature died on impact, a short, screeching sound leaving it before it went silent. Dream looked back into the dark cave, but there were no other sounds. The nest was quiet, for now. "George."

Hearing his cue George stepped up, a bottle of poison in hand. He had made it himself- made it potent and made it long lasting. If that didn't kill the nest, the fire Sapnap will start after definitely will.

Honestly, this was a pretty easy bounty. The hard part was just finding the nest. Dream grinned behind his mask, bending down and chopping off the dead phantom's head. They needed proof to receive the bounty money, and a head always worked.

Just as he was putting the head in a bag the nest seemed to come to life, multiple sounds echoing through the cave. George's eyes widened, and he threw the potion inside.

At the same time two phantoms flew out, narrowly avoiding the bottle and diving straight for George. Their talons wrapped around his shoulders and suddenly he was airborne.

"Jesus Christ-" Dream murmured as George screamed, being carried up higher and higher into the air. They'd drop him once they got high enough, he's sure of it. "Sap, do you have a bow?"

"George has it." Sapnap either hadn't seen what happened, or he was too busy staring at his sword, which was alight with flames. Dream let his friend get on with their job. He had a George to save.

But he didn't have a bow. Damnit.

He pulled a throwing knife out of his pocket, looking at the small thing before looking at George, who was getting farther and farther away. As it was, the phantoms were too far for him to hit them with the knife. No normal human could throw it that far.

Luckily, Dream wasn't a normal human.

He took a deep breath, and with pinpoint accuracy he threw the knife. It sailed through the air, embedding itself in one of the phantom's chest, killing it instantly. Immediately the other started falling under the weight. George grabbed it's talons so that it couldn't let him go, causing them both to fall semi softly to the ground. The moment they landed Dream was there, chopping straight through it like the last one.

George sniffed, glaring. "Watch that aim, Dream. You almost hit me!"

"I just saved you!" Dream wasn't actually upset, and he knew George wasn't either. This is just how it was sometimes. "I feel like I deserve some praise. How about a 'I love you'?"

"How about no." George smirked, patting his shoulder in a silent thankful gesture. "Did my potion hit?"

"Yeah." Sapnap called from the mouth of the cave, standing in the smoke that was billowing out. The air was filled with snarling screams of dying phantoms. "Be ready with the water."

Dream backtracked a bit, finding the two buckets they had left in the treeline and lugging them over. George took one of them, and before Sapnap could tell them to do it (he wouldn't ever tell them, which is why they just have to guess. The guy was too obsessed with fire to ever stop it) they threw the water into the cave.

"Aw." Sapnap pouted as the fire hissed and died, looking genuinely upset. He coughed at the smoke. "You couldn't of waited a little while longer?"

"We have stuff to do." George said sternly, peeking into the cave. "Maybe we should take some phantom wings as well, to show we actually destroyed the  _ entire _ nest."

The bounty was for the nest, not a single phantom, but he didn’t think they would really notice. Dream shrugged, uncaring either way. The three got to work, pulling charred corpses out of the cave and cutting off their wings. Dream worked on the three uncharred corpses outside of the cave, cutting their wings off and stuffing them into the bag with the head. Above him, the moon started to shine.

He heard another piercing shriek. He heard multiple. George and Sapnap looked outside the cave, confused.

There was a gust of wind, talons closing around his arms and shoulders. He heard George shout, saw Sapnap's eyes widen, before his legs were off the ground and he was suddenly flying.

_ "Dream!" _

The first thing he realized was the pain- a straining, stinging thing caused by the pressure in his shoulders and the claws piercing them. The rest of his body hung limply from the phantoms' grasp for a second, before his mind kicked in and he started flailing. His friends were calling his name, but there were three or four phantoms holding him up, meaning they flew away even faster. A single arrow nicked one of the phantom's wings, causing it to let him go, but the other three didn't stop. No other arrows followed the first one.

Curse his luck.

"Dammit-" He hissed, struggling. The phantoms weren't taking him straight up, thankfully. It was more diagonal, far enough up that if he fell he'd break something but close enough to the ground that his legs would hit the occasional tall tree as they passed. He swung his legs up to miss the next one, one of his ankles already swollen from the first time he bashed it against a passing tree. "Shit!"

This wasn't good.

Phantoms are strange creatures that not many know anything about. The only thing people are sure about is that they’re allergic to the sun and they're carnivores- as in they eat the flesh of  _ everything, _ even humans. One of their main moves is carrying their prey high up in the air and then dropping them to their death. Either that or they separate their prey from a herd and then gang up on it- eating it while it's still alive.

Dream had a feeling that's what would happen to him, if he didn't get out.

His arms were pinned the way they were now, but he's a flexible man. He wiggled his arms a little bit, before using his core muscles to bring his legs up and around one of the phantoms. The creature screeched, scratching and clawing at him. The other two flapped widely, trying to stay flying without losing their balance.

The one he was holding hissed, arms scratching and clawing and a single claw got hooked on his mask, cutting one of the ties and yanking it off his face. He watched, unable to do anything as it fell and disappeared into the forest below.

Dream still couldn't use his arms, but now that he was on top of it he could use his legs to kick one of the phantom's wing joints. Phantom's have notoriously weak bones. It snapped on contact and Dream let go, watching it disappear under the treeline. He took a vicious pleasure in its death- he might never find that mask again. He  _ liked _ that mask.

Another phantom bit his shoulder, going so deep he could feel it zap into his spine and travel down to his legs. He screamed in pain.

An arrow emerged from the trees, catching the other phantom through the neck.

They started to fall.

Dream immediately freed his arm from the dead phantom, using it to tear the other phantom's jaws off of him. His fall was slowed by the still alive phantom, and he grabbed a tree branch as they fell, using the momentum to swing his other arm into the tree. The phantom slammed into the tree with it, and Dream stomped on it's head  _ hard, _ crushing and killing it instantly.

Free from the phantoms' grasp but now injured he sighed, looking back the way he came. His shoulder buzzed with sharp pain, like the teeth were still in them, and he groaned. He couldn’t even walk with his busted ankle,  _ damnit. _

Sapnap and George will find him if he stays here and waits, right? They didn't get too far, right? Someone had shot down that phantom for him, right? Who else would be out here besides the three of them?

"With the situations you get in, I'm surprised you're still alive."

Dream froze at the new voice, before the tone caught up to him and he realized that it was familiar. He smiled, before remembering his mask was gone and forcing his face into indifference. "What are you doing in such a remote town?"

"The same as you." The voice got closer, and he saw figures appear from the woods. "Well, maybe not completely. Is saving your life going to be a reoccurring thing between us?"

Dream snorted, wanting to cross his arms before remembering that his shoulder was hurt. He watched as three people emerged from the treeline, eyes catching each one before settling for the one talking. "Hey, Techno."

The other man nodded, arms crossed. Next to him Wilbur frowned, taking another step forward before jogging over, concerned. "That doesn't look good." The man took his arm and Dream held back a surprised flinch, unprepared for someone other than Sapnap or George touching him. His wound bubbled in pain as Wilbur poked along its entirety. "Phil, are phantom's the one with infected bites?"

"That's most mobs, Wilbur." Phil was much more cautious as he approached, patting Techno's shoulder as he left his side. He approached Dream like one would approach a wounded and cornered animal. Dream didn't know whether to be offended or pleased. They had known each other for years now- he would've thought Phil would've known he'd never hurt him by now. "Potions get rid of infection, we just have to get him one. Where's George and Sapnap, Dream?"

Dream blinked, realizing that he was swaying on his feet. That might be from blood loss. "L-Lost them when the phantom carried me off."

Techno let out a sharp laugh. "Yeah, imagine our surprise when we looked up and saw  _ you _ flying through the air."

While his words weren't mean, his tone was definitely teasing and Dream flushed, annoyed at the fact that the man he would maybe consider his rival had to see him being carried off like a damsel in distress. That really wasn't lucky for him. "Shut up, there were a lot of them."

He wished he had a better comeback for Techno's quips and teasing, and while Dream was a smart person something about Techno made it  _ very hard _ for him to actually have a smart retort. It's annoying but he has no real defense against it. What was the  _ most _ annoying is that Techno seemed to realize that too.

He counts it lucky that Wilbur put too much pressure on his wound just then, and he jerked, a cut off scream leaving his throat before he clenched his jaw shut. Wilbur apologized immediately, but it was clearly more of an afterthought- his attention focused on what he was doing. Dream understood- comfort was not something bounty hunters had the luxury of having, especially during hunts.

And that's what they all were, really. They were bounty hunters- some of the best in the land. Both his group and Techno's group ranked in the top three for freelancers, they always got the job done. They were known by name only, which was also good, because if everyone knew their faces then hunting would be much harder.

It's not like they hunted things that would recognize their faces often anyway. The occasional witch, pillager, and evoker might know their name and could recognize their face if they knew who they were, but usually they only hunted mobs that were causing villagers trouble. Like a phantom nest that carried off livestock and the occasional child. They were perfect for jobs like those.

He inhaled sharply, determined to stay quiet for the rest of the time. The wound wasn't pretty, but he's had much worse in his line of work. He was  _ not _ going to look weak in front of his rival's group,  _ no. _

Techno looked at him, catching his eyes. Whereas Dream wore a mask to hide his features all the time, Techno took his off during hunts, letting everyone see how he was different. His eyes glowed in the night light, a dark, deep red that always reminded him of blood. He wondered if his own eyes were glowing green right now. Of course they were, stupid question. He blames the loss of blood.

Techno stared at him for another minute, just enough to make him uncomfortable, before digging into his bag and pulling out Dream's mask. "You dropped this."

The shock on his face was evident (he was way too used to wearing a mask, way too used to not having to hide his expressions-) so he tried to dampen it, holding out his hand. Techno still didn't come any closer, instead tossing it over. Dream caught it with his good hand, trying to figure out how to put it on.

Phil took the mask before he could, sliding it on his face in a practiced manner and Dream had almost forgotten that the man used to help him do this, when he was younger and had just gotten the mask. "Thanks."

Phil didn't respond to him verbally, ruffling his hair softly before turning back to Wilbur. "Told you we should've bought those potions."

"I needed new cords for my lute." Wilbur frowned halfway through his excuse, as if wishing he had bought the potions instead too. "How far away did they carry you, Dream? We need to find George."

Dream only half heard, relishing in the fact that his mask was back on. He's become dependent on it, sadly. "Uh-"

Right on time, a voice broke through the woods. "Dream?"

"Over here!" He called, voice cracking, probably because of his earlier screaming. There was a second of silence before he could hear the sounds of sticks cracking and huffing. Sapnap broke through the treeline first, eyes finding Dream before looking around at everyone else. He lit up. "Phil!"

"Hey, you twerp." Phil's voice was warm, as it always was with the youngest bounty hunter. He had taken a liking to Sapnap the first time he met him, and while Dream didn't know exactly why he thought it had something to do with the fact that Sapnap was the youngest hunter and Phil was a father through and through. He thinks Wilbur also pushed for the new bond, tired of having to deal with his dad lamenting over only having one kid. Now he basically had four or five, but that was another story altogether.

"Dream-" George finally appeared after him, pushing past Sapnap and stopping in front of the man in question. No one even had to ask- he was already searching through his bag. "What is with you and getting into the most  _ ridiculous _ situations-"

He found a healing potion and handed it to Wilbur, because even though he was the resident alchemist Wilbur was the resident healer. The taller man took the potion and uncorked it, smelling it for a second before taking the end fabric of his sleeve and tearing it off. He poured around half the bottle on the fabric before placing it on the wound. "Drink the rest of it." He handed the bottle to Dream.

Dream took it, pushing his mask up slightly to drink. Instantly he felt the smaller cuts littering his face and arms heal, felt the swelling around his ankle lessen, and he breathed out a sigh of relief, balancing his weight on both legs. "Much better."

"How'd you guys find him?" Sapnap asked, turning to Phil with eyes wide. It always made Dream laugh, the way Sapnap looked at the oldest hunter like he was his idol. 

"Techno heard him shouting." Phil tilted his head towards the quietest hunter. Techno had moved even farther away, chopping the phantom he had killed into pieces. As he watched, the man dug into its wings, pulling something out and pocketing it. "It was his enhanced hearing and sight- I could barely even  _ see _ Dream from where we were."

George helped Dream sit down. Wilbur grinned from behind them, much less worried now. "Since we saved his life-" he started. "-how about we get part of that bounty?"

"Hmmm." George hummed. "Eh, can we give Dream back?"

"Hey!"

"It's fine." Techno said while the others laughed, still working on that phantom. "We finished that other bounty anyway- and besides, I'd rather have some membranes over emeralds."

"Membranes?" George perked up. His goggles were on his forehead, so Dream could see his eyes sparkle- he always got that  _ look _ when potions were involved. "Phantoms drop  _ membranes?!" _

Techno nodded, tossing over a piece. George caught it, pushing his goggles over his eyes and staring at it intently. Dream almost laughed at his fascination.

"Well, it's good we found you." Wilbur cut in after a moment, face happy and warm. "It would've been annoying, having to look for you all across the continent. Techno's been wanting to ask you something for a  _ while _ now."

Techno shot him a half hearted glare before sighing. "We were wonderin' if you'd be interested in teaming up with us, for a little bit."

Dream arched an eyebrow, even though Techno couldn't see. "Team up? You mean travel around together? Why?"

He shrugged. "No particular reason-"

Phil cut in. "Wilbur was trying to create a new potion and wanted George's help with it-"

"Dad!" Wilbur looked both amused and embarrassed. "I can make potions by myself, easy! Besides, Techno's gotten bored of sparring with us, that's why he's asking!"

It almost immediately erupted into chaos between the two, with Sapnap joining in just for fun. It was obvious that each group wanted to join up for a bit- they were good friends, after all. That didn't mean Dream would let this go, though. He needed to tease when he could.

"Awe," Dream grinned, happy the show was on the other foot for a change. "Have you missed us that badly?"

Techno pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Tommy's been bugging me about seeing Tubbo for the last _ month _ and I am  _ this close _ to killing and burying his body."

He laughed, because even though Techno's entire group seemed to have a different reason to want to travel with them he knows his group isn't much different. Dream likes hanging out with them all, as does George and Sapnap. Both George and Wilbur are foreign, along with Phil, and love to talk about the best things about where they were born (which just happens to be music and alchemy). Sapnap, as said before, very much idolized Phil and Phil loved stepping into the father role of literally everyone he sees. Dream liked listening to Phil talk about the history of mobs and never turned down Wilbur when he wanted to do something. He also loved sparring, and the only one on his level was Techno. Not to mention Tubbo, who liked the entire group almost as much as he likes Dream's group, while also being Tommy's best friend.

"We'll have to figure out how to split bounties." Dream said after a moment, causing the chattering to dull. "But other than that, I'm cool with it."

"Me too." George said as Sapnap said, "Same." With the confirmation from those two, it was official.

They were now a joined group. For how long, he didn't know. He'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

So, together, as a newly formed group, they walk back to the village, bounty in tow.

Days away, another bounty hunter was being paid for their own bounty. He smiled, dropping the decapitated  _ human _ head on the table. It clumped on the wood and shifted slightly, touching the vials of corked blood stacked next to it. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Oh, you're not done." His contractor grinned, a twisted little thing. "I need more blood than just _ that. _ It's much too little."

The bounty hunter frowned. "But they're pretty rare in the general population. It took me a while just to find her." He tapped the head's cheek. The dead head slid slightly.

"You'll be paid accordingly." The contractor promised. "And you'll have help. I have several specialists that have studied these types of humans for a long time. They, along with a few of my members, will accompany you."

The cloaked hunter grunted, as if still unsure. "Got anything to track one down? A compass or something?"

"Go east." The contractor said. "Some of my members saw one, a child, traveling with a group. Once you find them, you won’t need magic to track them. They can't hide from you- their eyes give them away."

The bounty hunter shrugged, seemingly accepting the bounty. He turned, throwing up the hood on his cloak and walking out. "You have a deal." he agreed, leaving.

“Remember,” The contractor called out as he left. “If you see a red eyed one report back to me,  _ immediately.” _

The cloak hunter waved to show he heard before fully leaving the room. He had things to hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GIVE UP. I FUCKIN GIVE UPPP. TAKE MY SOUL, I JUST WANT MORE INTERACTION BETWEEN TECHNO AND DREAM AND I COULDN'T GET IT SO I'M MAKING IT MYSELF!
> 
> So, new story, lol. This one, unlike my last big project story (Run Boy Run) will have two, yes TWO main characters, that being Dream and Techno, because I need some fics about them and I don't get enough. Like all my stories, there's no shipping but do what you want. Run Boy Run kinda focused on Sapnap and Dream, but this one will be more Techno and Dream focused (and Wilbur, cause he's Wilbur) so take what you can get, I guess. I got some Wilbur and George bonding time coming up and some Dadza trying to deal with a certified pet killer as well, because those are pairings I rarely see but I thought it'd be fun.
> 
> I have no posting schedule for this, sorry.
> 
> Lastly, as said before in other stories, feel free to use this AU in writing or drawing, I have no problems with it. If you do, I'd love to see it! 
> 
> Like, comment, and subscribe lmao  
> 3.5k words (I'm moving this down here now lol)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several years ago...

He woke up to shrill alarms and ear shattering screams.

Techno blinked blearily, looking around. His room was relatively calm, for how  _ hectic _ everything else was. He sat up, using an arm to rub across his face. What was going on?

At that moment the door to his room slammed open. "Your majesty!" It was a knight, followed by another one. Both had their helmets up, panic covering their faces. "The castle is being attacked! Your parents are ordering your evacuation."

His entire life flipped upside down in a matter of minutes.

The teenager jumped off his bed, scrambling to his bedside. He grabbed the sword waiting there, clasping the scabbard around his waist. One of the knights wrapped a red cloak around him, and Techno threw the hood over his face.

He walked out of his room and was engulfed in the chaos. The screaming was louder outside, and while his hall was empty Techno could smell the rancid scent of too much blood. Of death and  _ fear. _

He wished his senses weren't so good- weren't so enhanced. He didn’t want to be able to smell the fear and pain of people he  _ knew, _ people he knew were dying for him right now, just so he could get out of the castle. It was their jobs, but still…

“This way!” The knights led him down a hall, towards his parents’ chambers. When they passed by the king and queen were both gone. Techno thought about the last thing he said to them both- just a simple goodnight after a boring day. He gets the urge to look for them, just so he knows his last words to them won’t be something so dull as that.

He never gets the chance.

They continue on, and an arrow flies in through a window, puncturing the leading knight’s throat. He dies instantly, and the other knights immediately form a barrier around him. He hates it, hates the protection, the fact that others would  _ die _ for him, but he’s also  _ scared _ and those two sides war within him.

They make it down the stairs before men are on them, and he ignores the knights, taking out his sword to help them fight. Most of the men aren’t wearing castle armor- they either made it themselves or got it from another kingdom. While most of the infiltrators were fighting (and fighting well, he might add) there were a few looting the castle, touching  _ his family’s _ heirlooms like they were something anyone could have. He growled, stepping towards one of these looters. A shrill scream sounded next to him and he had to turn away to help a servant, who was getting rolled over by another infiltrator. By the time he finished, the looter was gone, his heirloom missing.

_ Damn it all. _

He turns back to the knights still with him. “Where are my parents?”

“With the head knight, sire.” The knight who spoke sounded both tense and droozy- he must’ve been wounded. “We will meet up with them after we’ve escaped safely.”

The head knight. Phil. Techno calmed slightly- they would be safe with him.

The knights led the young prince through the castle, out towards the back. There were enemies everywhere, and while Techno was good with a sword he’s only ever fought in competitions before, not to the death. It was a completely different experience, he hated the fear it made him feel. He killed one of his attackers on accident, and he couldn’t pick up his sword without shaking violently afterwards.

He was  _ useless. _

Before he could get himself or one of his knight's killed he heard the sound of horses running over. There were four in total, three of them empty and being pulled by the one in the front. Phil sat on top of the animal, back straight and eyes pained.

And Techno knew why. He was out here helping Techno and his family when Wilbur, his  _ son, _ was somewhere in the castle, fending for himself. Wilbur was  _ not _ a fighter- it's not in his blood.

Wait.

Wasn't Phil protecting his parents?

"Phil?" He almost stuttered, barely noticing as the knights guarding him each grabbed a horse, a few having to ride with someone else. Someone strong pulled him up onto the back of Phil's horse, he barely noticed that either. "Where are my parents?"

"Hopefully safe." Phil said after a moment, and Techno couldn't tell if he was hiding something or not. "They told me to go help you."

"I can take care of myself." He said, even though his terror and shaking gave him away.

"So can they." Phil reassured, before snapping on the reins. They raced through the paths at the back of the castle, weaving through fighting bodies and corpses. Someone with a bow hit one of the horses on it's flank, causing it to fall. Techno heard the sounds of the knights on that horse screaming, before it was cut off. He wanted to force himself to look back, wanted to thank them for keeping him safe.

He doesn't think he could move if he wanted to. He was frozen, completely _ frozen. _

"Keep your head down." Phil hissed, glancing back at him. The older man cursed as he saw more horses come from the side- they weren't knights, it was easy to tell. One of the other horses with knights on it veered off, turning towards their enemies to either fend them off or distract them, so Techno and the others could escape.

They were very outnumbered. It was obvious how it could end.

At least this time Techno could watch as they rode off to their deaths.

They made it to the outer wall of the castle. There was a decent sized hole in the wall, the infiltrators might have gotten in that way. Phil rode the horse straight through the gap, the other horse with its two knights following straight after.

The horse stopped moving. He felt Phil's sharp intake more than heard it, looking up to see the commotion.

The city around his castle. His kingdom. His  _ people. _

_ It was all burning. _

A great big billowing fire was raised so high into the sky that it covered the moon, clouds of black smoke blocking the stars. The scent of burning flesh stung his enhanced nose, and he wanted to puke and faint at the first whiff of it.

His vision went blurry. When had he started crying?

"Techno." Phil's voice broke through his surprise. "Take a deep breath Techno, in through the mouth, out through the nose. Close your eyes and listen to my voice. How are your senses?"

Due to his status as a Chosen, Techno has enhanced  _ everything, _ including his senses. While it's normally a great ability, it does have its downsides. One being that something too loud could make his ears bleed easier and another being that bad smells could make him faint. Even something average to normal people, if combined with all of his senses, could cause a sensory overload.

"I'm fine." His voice was quiet, shaky, and it sounded like he croaked.  _ Stupid, _ it's stupid of him to be so  _ pathetic _ right now. He's the  _ prince, _ the heir to the throne, and he's watching his entire kingdom crumble into  _ dust _ right now and he's not doing  _ anything- _ "S'only the smell…"

Phil frowned, sniffing at the air but obviously not picking up on it. Maybe it was too light in the air for him to smell it. Maybe he had gone noseblind. Techno doesn't have the ability to go noseblind to things- he's unlucky, in that standpoint.

The head knight brought out a cloth, handing it to the prince. In the dark of night his eyes glowed brightly, showering the white fabric in a red light. Techno stared at it for a moment before tying it around his face, adjusting it until it covered his nose and mouth. With that and the hood on, it was almost impossible to tell who he was.

His eyes gave him away, though. The only Chosen in the kingdom- it wasn't hard to figure that one out.

"Sir." One of the knight's said, tone deep and gruff. "We should continue moving- the traitors will be on our tail soon."

Phil stiffened at his words and Techno frowned, mind pausing at a singular part.

_ Traitors. _

They… they weren't infiltrators. They were already inside the castle. The city. The  _ kingdom. _ They were  _ his _ people, people he could've known before this.

His own people…  _ they _ did this? Or did they just help? Did someone let these people in? Some if not most of the infiltrators had an insignia that wasn't from his kingdom- someone  _ let _ those people in. They  _ helped _ them.

_ Traitors. _

They started riding again, rushing off and away from both the castle and city. Techno couldn't tear his eyes off of it- squinting to see that he could make out any figures in the fire. With his eyesight, it was very possible that he could.

"Eyes closed." Phil snapped again, not even looking back, and Techno on normal circumstances would retort with something sarcastic. This time he just listened. "I can see the glow from up here, Techno, keep your eyes-"

Their horse cried out in pain before falling, an arrow in it's back leg. Phil instantly turned, grabbing him and tucking his still growing body into his own. They both fell to the floor, Phil taking the brunt of the impact as they rolled along. The teenage prince shook himself as he stood, helping Phil up and getting his bearings.

"Sire! Sir!" The two knights on the other horse hopped off, coming to their side immediately. "Are you hurt?"

"No." Phil dismissed him quickly, looking around for the archer who shot that arrow. "Weapons out."

They didn't have the time. Techno heard the stomps of horses right before he saw them, driving through the trees and circling around them. There were dozens, and Techno had dropped his sword when he was thrown on Phil's horse. He was once again  _ useless _ as the knights and  _ Phil _ fought to protect him.

His entire kingdom, in the span of a single night, had fallen.

So many had sacrificed themselves for him and his family, and he's not even sure his family is still alive. He didn't know where his parents were, didn't know where  _ Wilbur _ was, and Phil was fighting a battle he knew he couldn't win, just because there was a chance he could keep him safe.

(His thoughts went to the little boy he had found a few weeks back- Tommy. Phil had taken him to a secluded village, one not connected to the kingdom. At least that boy was safe. At least he survived.)

The horses provided the barricade to keep them blocked in, so the human riders jumped off and lunged forward, eyes bright in  _ something _ Techno couldn't read. They all charged, and the knights took out their swords as Phil looked at him one last time and Techno decided then and there that he  _ wouldn't _ be useless again.  _ Never again. _

When the first man came towards him Phil blocked his way, but the second stepped around and Techno faced him head first. The man's stance wasn't as threatening as his allies- he wasn't looking to kill Techno. Detain, maybe? There was always a chance, with his status.

In the end it doesn't matter. He's not aiming to kill, which Techno can use to his advantage. 

The man pointed his sword at him, an obvious threat that any normal citizen would see as a 'stay still and put your hands up' signal. Techno, instead of doing any of that, dropped to the ground. Digging his ankles into the dirt he darted forward, punching the man square in the gut.

Along with his enhanced senses he was also stronger than normal. Not superhuman, not at all, but above average. The man gasped, clutching his stomach before turning to the side and vomiting. Techno grabbed the hilt of his sword and twisted it out of his hands, bringing it up and back down.

His arms twitched as the blade met skin. The man died almost instantly, but the idea of being the one that caused it made him want to hurl himself.

Forcing a deep breath (and then gagging at the smell of vomit) he turned towards the others. One of the knights was down, but the other one and Phil were still going strong. He jumped into the mass of people, cutting and slicing and trying to hit  _ anything _ that could help them  _ get out, _ that could help them  _ survive. _ He was almost on autopilot, with how  _ scared _ he was, just hacking and slashing.

Then he heard a familiar scream and everything froze.

The last knight was gone, dead on the ground. Phil was kneeling, hand covering a wound that was gushing blood from his side. Techno almost dropped his sword, rushing to him. A few hands caught his arms before he could reach the man, causing him to struggle and kick out. "Let  _ go! _ Phil!"

The head knight gritted his teeth, glaring at the men still alive. There weren't many- three left. He thinks he and Phil could've taken them, if Phil hadn't gotten hurt.

_ Phil... _

"Man, how lucky could you be?" One of the men said, hand yanking down his hood. The pink hair was a dead giveaway, especially in his kingdom. "A royal  _ and _ a Chosen. You'll sell for a lot."

He's heard about this before- bits and pieces of it. His parents obviously knew, but they never told him and forbade anyone else from doing so as well. He knows about royal ransoms and kidnappings, that's not new to him. He's  _ heard _ about the blood of Chosen's being special, in some way. He knew his parents worried about someone trying to use him because of it.

He never thought it'd become a real problem, though.

The 16 year old grunted, struggling again. He had two people holding him down, the last one towering over Phil. "I recognize you." He murmured, bringing his sword down to Phil's chin, pushing it up. "You were with the king and queen earlier, protecting them. You left so suddenly, I found it strange at the time."

Against his will Techno froze, his mind snapping back to his parents. "The-"

"They ordered you to protect him, then?" The man ignored Techno, still staring at Phil. "I was wondering why they both seemed so at peace after that. I mean, the queen died with a smile on her face. I definitely wasn't expecting  _ that." _

The… the…

Huh?

No.

_ No. _

Phil flinched harshly, nicking himself on the blade. He looked at Techno with guilty eyes, and he  _ did _ know. He  _ did _ know that his parents didn't make it, he knew that they were going to die and he  _ lied _ and he's about to  _ die _ himself-

There were no tears this time, no cracking, shaky voice. When he spoke it was deep and threatening. "Get  _ away _ from him."

The man paused, perplexed for a moment before laughing. "Like a pathetic silver spooned kid like you would scare me."

"I'd listen to him."

Techno froze at the familiar voice along with the others. It took a second to realize exactly  _ who _ it was, but when he did his eyes went to Phil's.

Relief. Bone dropping relief. His eyes were watery too, he could tell.

The other men froze. "Show yourself!"

The voice laughed, light and airy and eerie. The men shifted, wary. "I think I'd rather stay hidden. Much easier killing you like that."

What he could only guess as the leader snorted. "You sound like a child, you aren't scary."

His other men shifted side to side, so Techno doesn't know how much that holds true. The voice laughed again, from behind Techno, this time, and he tensed, waiting. "Then I'll make you scared."

The man holding his right arm gasped in pain, dropping to the floor with a knife in his back. Techno didn't wait, didn't hesitate, pulling the knife out and stabbing the other man in the jugular, getting blood all over his cloak.

It was already red anyway.

Now it was three versus one. The leader scowled, sword still under Phil's chin. "Don't think you've won just yet."

He moved the sword forward a bit, pushing into Phil's adam apple. Techno paused, eyes wide in obvious concern. Phil looked bittersweet- sad but happy, regretful by accepting. He hated the look, never wanted to see it again.

Then, from his other side, behind the man, a figure appeared.

"Let him go and maybe you'll live." Techno raised his voice, hoping that the crunching of steps he heard was too low for normal humans to pick up on. "You can still get out of this."

The figure got closer, very close. The leader glared. "The castle is looted, everything valuable is gone. Everything _ but _ you, so that's not happening."

"Too bad, then." The figure braced itself, shifting down before swinging hard. The thick branch of a tree he was holding slammed into the side of the man's head. He heard something crack as the man fell, but he's not sure if it was a killing blow or not.

They were all safe, so it didn't matter.

"Dad!" The figure,  _ Wilbur, _ dropped the branch and fell to his knees, clutching his father in a desperate hug. Phil gripped back just as hard, and Techno watched from the outside, something bittersweet on his tongue from the reunion.

He really doesn't like bittersweet things.

Phil seemed to notice, as he extended an arm to pull Techno into the hug. While Techno's been a part of these family hugs before, this one felt much more satisfying. He felt warm and safe and comforted and he exhaled sharply, barely holding back a sob.

His mother…  _ dead. _ And there was  _ no way _ his father would allow that while he was still breathing, which meant…

His parents. His people. His kingdom.  _ Gone. _

A hand brushed through his hair and he shuddered, barely holding back another sob. They didn't have  _ time _ for that, not now, not when  _ more people _ could be on the way.

He bit the inside of his mouth, forcing the tears in his eyes to fade away. "Hey, Wilbur."

Wilbur was his age- a 16 year old trapped in an overrunned castle, like he was. The difference was Wilbur got out  _ by himself. _ The teen in question smiled back. "Always said those eyes would be the death of someone." He looked at the collapsed leader in disgust. "Guess I was right."

Wilbur loved to make comments about his eyes- the fact that they were both red and that they glowed amazed him immensely. He brought it up when they were three just meeting, he brought it up at eight during study sessions, and he brought it up at fifteen when they snuck out of the castle to go play music at pubs. Techno never really cared before. Now, though...

The glow from his eyes washed Wilbur and Phil's face in red, and for a second he thought it was blood. Stomping out the near panic attack he almost experienced, he sighed, closing his eyes.

Better to keep them closed, sometimes.

"Alright." Phil said after another minute, hissing as he stood up. "Everyone pick a horse, we got to go."

They all picked out one of their attacker's horses, taking the reins off the ones they didn't choose to both free the animals and to stop someone from easily following them. Phil led the way, still holding his side. The way he pointed wasn't towards any place Techno could think of.

"Where are we going?" He asked quietly, hunched over his horse. His red cloak was darker than it was before, stained with blood. It was actually less noticeable now, compared to the bright red from before. He was almost overwhelmed by the smell when he put it back over his head- he's lucky for the cloth around his nose.

"To my vacation home." Phil explained, not looking back. "That little town I told you about. They can help us."

Techno, scared and tired and overwhelmed, just nodded and followed Phil's horse. The three rode in silence.

Behind them, the city continued to burn.

  
  


In a village a long ways away another teenager of the same age falls to the ground, the force of the slap sending them spiralling.

"Come on mom!" The teenager's friend tried to reason. "I wanted to hang out with him! Don't be mean!"

"Mean?!" The mother spat, glaring at her son. "You'll see whats 'mean' when that  _ bastard _ curses you with his powers!"

Said bastard, Dream, bit back a scathing remark. As if he could curse anyone with Chosen powers. That's not how being Chosen works, at all.

He really should've expected this. This particular friend had been growing more and more distant as of late, a sign that his parents had finally drawn a line and Dream was not included within said line. He's not surprised- all of his friends’ parents have said that. They don't like him- he was cursed.

His eyes gave him away.

"Don't hit him!" His friend protested, and Dream, who wasn't paying attention, braced for another swing. The violence wasn't normal, but it definitely wasn't the first time it's happened. They always say he tricks his friends into playing with him- brainwashes them or something, like he's a witch. It gets boring after a while.

He can't persuade them into believing he isn't cursed, either. There were 'to many signs' for it, in their opinion. The most damning? The fact that his parents left a long time ago. Rumor has it they disappeared after they made Dream angry. Rumor has it Dream killed them with his curse. Rumor has it that his parents were cursed and went missing because of it. Rumor has it that that'll happen to Dream too.

It was all just rumors. The truth was they left when he was young and they left him behind. That was all that mattered. He was just unlucky, that was all.

"Hey!" He blinked at the familiar voice, saw a hand holding someone's wrist inches away from his face. So he  _ was  _ going to get hit again- he knew that mother in particular believed in his curse. He wasn't surprised. "What are you doing?!"

The kid that stopped her was the only friend who hadn't left him yet- Sapnap. The younger kid glared at the mother, eyes full of fire.

The woman yanked her hand away. "So that  _ monster _ got you too?" She's both disappointed and angry. "Your parents won't be happy."

"Fuck them too!" Sapnap spat as she turned around, grabbing her son's arm and tugging him away, like he was a little kid and not an almost fully grown man. "Shit- Dream?"

He nodded, only half aware. "M'fine."

He was, really. That woman was weak, he's had harsher sparring sessions with Sapnap compared to that. It just… caught him off guard. She came out of nowhere.

"Fuck her, come on." Sapnap's grip on his wrist was soft, tugging him just enough to get him moving before switching to holding his hand, guiding him that way. Dream followed, more focused on his thoughts than anything else.

He knew where Sapnap was leading them. While Dream can't say much about his parents, he can at least thank them for the house. It's been his since his parents left, with the other two occupants being Sapnap (he's basically moved in, completely fed up with his parents) and-

"Where's Tubbo?" Sapnap asked when he found the house empty. His voice had a tinge of concern in it, obviously worried, and Dream could understand why. Tubbo was also a Chosen, also 'cursed' when it came to this village. While Dream was practically an adult and could handle himself, he didn't want Tubbo to have to worry about it.

"He's with Puffy." He explained. "He needs new measurements for clothes and I also needed a day off from watching him."

Watching him, caring for him, they were the same thing in his head. Sapnap snorted, earlier worry gone. "Good. Go sit down."

Dream obliged, not even thinking as Sapnap puttered about. He picked out supplies so easily, knowing where everything was, like he's always lived here. The thought made him smile.

He paused, stretching his facial muscles, moving them around. The side of his face stung slightly, and he's pretty sure his ear was bleeding. The woman had dragged him by the ear back to town, from where they were hanging out in the woods. She hadn't been gentle with it either- nails digging in and most likely drawing blood, if the wetness he felt was right.

"You know what, I hate him too!" Sapnap snapped, sitting down in front of him. He was referring to his other friend, the one who's mom just hit him. "He's pathetic, just letting his mom attack his friends like that! Like asking her to stop would do anything. Fucking baby could do better…"

"Dude, calm down." He's let Sapnap's anger get too far, let it steam for too long. His silence probably wasn't helping. "I'm fine, just a cut and a slap. We've both had it worse."

"Yeah, ‘worse’ being a sparring accident." Sapnap cut in, eyes narrowed. "Something that we both mutually agreed to do, something that we both know can have harmful consequences."

"I knew hanging out with him could have 'harmful consequences.'" Dream murmured, tilting his head so Sapnap could clean up the blood around his ear.

"You act as if that makes it better." The other kid muttered darkly.

Dream blinked. "It doesn't?"

"Wha-  _ no, _ Dream!" Sapnap's voice breaks, and suddenly he's laughing. "You really are an idiot. I thought they said that Chosen were smart."

"Hey!" Dream grinned, swatting at his friend. "I  _ am _ smart, thank you very much."

"Dude, I saw you eat cat poop when you were five."

"Oh  _ come on!" _ Dream groaned as Sapnap laughed. "That was forever ago, and how do you even  _ remember _ that, you were three!"

The other kid only laughed harder.

"Fine, whatever." Dream pouted, muttering lowly as Sapnap finished cleaning up the blood. After another few minutes he deemed the cut fine and stood up.

"Stay there." Sapnap called, walking away. "I need to talk to you."

His voice was serious and Dream found his heart clenching. Talk to him? The only times his friends say that in such a serious manner is when they tell him that they can't talk anymore. When they tell him that he's cursed for something he can't control and that  _ he's _ the bad one, not their parents for saying it in the first place.

Was… was Sapnap…?

Was Sapnap about to leave him? Like all the others?

He was close to full-blown panic when Sapnap came back, arms full with blankets for the couch. Dream relaxed almost immediately, scolding himself for giving into his own self doubts so easily. The other boy dropped the blankets on the ground, taking the biggest one and unfolding it. He jumped onto the couch, throwing the blanket over both of them.

This was a usual occurrence whenever Sapnap came over. The boy was an absolute cuddle monster and would take whatever chance he could get to curl up into someone's side. Usually Tubbo would be on Dream's other side, leading the conversation by talking about something neither of the other two understood. They could spend hours on this couch, going through conversation after conversation until they all drifted off. This couch was familiar, it was warm and safe and Dream trusted Sapnap to  _ not _ break him while they were on this couch.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked when Sapnap didn't say anything. He didn't move closer either, which was strange. "You sounded serious."

"Quick question." Sapnap said after a moment. "Why are you still here?"

Dream blinked, confused. "In this town?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well-" he paused, thinking for a second. "You're here, and so is Tubbo and Puffy and my other friends-"

"-who all abandoned you."

"Because of their parents." Dream corrected lightly, not really feeling up to this argument again. They had it all the time nowadays.

"My parents don't like you." Sapnap retorted, and here they go- "And look at me,  _ still _ hanging out with you,  _ still _ your best friend. We're almost grown, it's no excuse."

"I'm almost grown." Dream corrected with a smirk. "You're only 14."

"Shut up, I'm almost 15." Sapnap crossed his arms with a pout. After a minute he turned serious. "But after that, what else? You have me, Tubbo, and Puffy. Anything else holding you here?"

Was there anything else? He liked the house but there was nothing in here he couldn't bring with him. There's a chance that if he leaves the town might burn his house (Puffy really was the only sane adult in town, but she was only a few years older than Dream, so did that count as 'adult'?) because he's 'cursed' and he doesn't want to go down that road just yet. "No."

Sapnap nodded, like he knew that already. "Then let's leave."

Dream stared. "What?"

Sapnap said it so  _ easily, _ like he was asking about the weather or whether or not zombie sized chickens were scarier than chicken sized zombies. It was surprising to ask such a big question with so much nonchalance. 

"Exactly what I said." Sapnap's grin was softer this time. His hand grabbed Dream's under the cover, a silent comfort. "Let's just  _ leave, _ Dream. Take Tubbo and  _ go. _ What has this town ever actually done for us? We'd be better off looking for a new place to live."

"You know your parents would just think I kidnapped you, right?" Dream asked, voice neutral even though he was turning the idea over in his head. "And Tubbo's 8, I don't want to push a life like that on him, not now."

"You do realize this is Tubbo we're talking about." Sapnap asked. "He literally found our village in the dead of night in the pouring rain, walked straight up to your house like he  _ knew _ it was your house and set up shop. He was 6 then,  _ 6." _

Okay but still. "I don't want him to have to go back to that." Dream insisted. "He needs a stable home to grow up in. He needs friends  _ his _ age to hang out around, not just us."

"Then leave him with Puffy, Dream." Sapnap almost sounded like he was pleading. "But I can't allow you to just  _ let _ them push you around. They're never going to stop, Dream, and they'll get harsher and harsher until you're bleeding on the floor. And then they  _ still _ won't stop."

He looked at his fingers, laced together in his blanket covered lap. He wiggled his left index finger before looking up, meeting Sapnap's eyes. "You sound like you speak from experience."

The dead voice seemed to almost break him. Suddenly his eyes were teary, and he buried his face into Dream's shoulder. "I can't watch it anymore, Dream, I-"

Something harsh settled in his gut and Dream winced, bringing up a hand to card into his hair. "How about a compromise?"

Sapnap's eyes were red when he looked up, but they were also wide and hopeful. "Yes?"

"We go hiking for a week." Dream explained. "Tubbo stays with Puffy and Puffy makes sure the other adults don't lose their minds and burn down my house. If in that week we find a nice, better village than we move. If we don't we come back and pretend we got lost for a bit."

Sapnap frowned. "The last time we were late for something that big half the adults in town threw rocks at you."

Dream winced, the phantom pain coming back. "Well, let's hope we find a village then."

He still wasn't completely sold on the idea, especially because he'd have to leave Tubbo. Still, Puffy could take much better care of him than Dream could  _ and _ the idea of leaving permanently was a bit too juicy to give up so easily. Not to mention that he would go with Sapnap, the only friend who stuck through with him all the way.

They left in the middle of the night, Sapnap sneaking out of his house and following Dream to the inn, where Puffy lived and worked. They explained everything in hushed whispers, and while Puffy was sad to see him go (they were basically family at this point) she promised to take care of Tubbo. With that and their pre packed bags, they were gone.

It took two or three days to find another village- one significantly bigger than their own ten building one. This one actually had structure to it, actually had a system going.

The two had packed enough food to last a little longer than a week if necessary, but they had nothing in terms of a place to stay. The first day they stayed at the inn, but neither had enough emeralds to do that again. They were kind of lost, but each time a person passed and asked if they were okay,  _ uncaring _ about his eyes, Dream knew he'd rather live homeless like this than in his old village. Never, never again.

They were trying to figure out where to go when a teenager a few years older than them, 18 or 19, maybe, walked up to them. "Are you two lost or something?"

"Uh, what?" Sapnap spoke up before Dream did. "No?"

"You definitely don't look like you know what you're doing." The older teen huffed. "Where's your family?"

"Gone." Dream muttered at the same time Sapnap said, "Away."

The man stared. He stared at them, at their dirty clothes, at Dream's beaten up face, and came up with his own conclusion. "You ran away." He guessed. "Came from that little village across the river, I'm guessing. I heard they were very superstitious over there- looks like that isn't just a rumor." His eyes flashed with pity for a moment before he turned. "Come on."

Sapnap glanced at Dream, unsure, but Dream, for some odd reason, trusted the older teen. He grabbed his friend's wrist, following after him. 

He led them to his own house. "Mother, I talked to them." He called into the kitchen, where his mother most likely was.

"Oh, are they okay, George?" She called back, still in the kitchen and unknowing that they were in her house. "I made extra dinner, maybe you could bring it out- oh!"

She had finally poked her head out, eyes catching the both of them. Dream flinched on instinct at the sudden movement, at the shock on her face. Usually when he scared adults, they got mad.

George's mother just frowned, eyes filling with sympathy. "Oh, hello!"

Dream blinked. Well, that's a new reaction. "Hi."

It took less than thirty minutes for them to be accepted into the household. George's house wasn't big by any means- a little small compared to some of the others, actually. That didn't stop George and his parents from taking them in. While they had no extra rooms, George had an old treehouse he used to play in that his dad fixed up for them to stay in if they couldn't find any place better. George's mother demanded that they eat at least one meal with them a day, to make sure they  _ are _ eating, and while George started off as someone to watch them so his mother wouldn't worry, they all became friends after Sapnap set his pants on fire.

Weird how things work out.

A week or so passed and Dream went out on his own for the first time, exploring the village with a meek curiosity. He got stares, people looking at his eyes, but no one yelled at him or avoided him, so there was that, at least. He heard noise coming from the bar and frowned. It was a little early for there to be so many people already drinking, right?

Entering the bar he paused. There was a bard playing music inside, a boy his age strumming his lute and singing something real sorrowful. He was singing to nobody, as if practicing to himself. It made Dream's heart clench.

"He's good, right?"

Dream jumped at the voice and turned to meet glowing red eyes.

Red eyes.  _ Glowing. _

He was a Chosen.

The newcomer, also his age, blinked, surprised. He turned away from Dream, going back to watching the bard sing. Dream opened his mouth, wanting to say something but not finding the right words.

So they just stood there, watching the bard and listening to his music. Unsaid questions floated between them but neither broke the silence. The bard kept singing, song after song, and they stayed quiet the entire time.

Until the end. "I'm Dream." He finally said. It was getting dark, he had been gone for hours. The bar was starting to fill up, and the teenage bard was moving off the stage.

"Techno." Said the other Chosen, before walking away, towards the bard. "See you around."

He might've croaked out a 'yeah', but he's not completely sure. He stared at the two as they went towards the back, leaving through the back door. When they were out of vision he finally snapped out of it.

Another Chosen.

He turned and ran out of the bar, rushing towards his new home.

He had to tell Sapnap and George.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Backstory, basically. What Chosen are will be explained next chapter <3 I'll also explain Tubbo's past in a bit (like, 7 chapters later don't be expecting it soon lol)
> 
> The ages will be a little bit shifted, but not by much. The biggest changes will be Phil (older), and Tubbo and Tommy (younger). 
> 
> Like, comment, and subscribe lmao  
> 6k words


	3. Chapter 3

No one knows how Chosens came to be. Some think that long forgotten gods blessed them, and their descendants can inherit their traits. Some think that Chosen are actually the vessels for gods, which is why they're stronger and faster and smarter.

Some even think that they  _ are _ gods, reincarnated after the world forgot about them. 

None of these theories are proven, which is probably why people have such mixed feelings about them. Some praise them as demigods of some sort while others treat them normally. Those who don't understand them and are scared call them cursed. There was a short period of time where Chosen could get burned at the stake like witches, before the majority of people went up in an outcry and burning a Chosen became a crime in almost every kingdom.

That didn't stop people from hating them, though.

So what was even so different about a Chosen, besides the glowing eyes? Chosen aren't superhuman, not by any stretch. They're just… better. Take every trait possible, be it intelligence or strength or speed, and set it to above average. They're stronger than normal, faster than normal, smarter than normal, but they aren't the smartest, aren't the fastest, aren't the strongest out of everyone. If someone was really lucky in the gene pool, then they could be better than a Chosen in everything. A rare chance, but not impossible.

The biggest thing about Chosen that not many know about is their strength and weakness. Each Chosen has one particular strength and one particular weakness, which evens out. For example, a Chosen could be the fastest person in the world, but their depth perception might be completely off. They have one strong thing about them and one weak thing to even out the strong. Sometimes the weakness can be easy to exploit, and sometimes the weakness can be easy to hide.

Due to the unknown origins about Chosen and how they work, many people have many different theories and rumors about them. While most are completely false, there is one rumor that keeps on coming back, that keeps haunting Chosen, no matter where they are.

Some think that a Chosen's blood has magical properties. While no one knows if it's true, it makes people wonder, and it makes those with bad intentions have a target. People can easily market Chosen's blood as a rare commodity, spreading rumors about it's mystical powers before selling it for thousands of emeralds. It's a scam at its finest, but it's also  _ very _ dangerous for those who are actually Chosen.

  
  


He had just turned 18 when the new bounty appeared.

They hadn't been bounty hunting for long- still new enough to the game that they hadn't felt safe enough to split up yet, so Dream’s group was still traveling with Techno’s. They had been resting at an inn, using it as a pitstop before traveling to the next town, which was supposed to have a bigger bounty board. He wasn’t expecting a bounty to appear while he was there, but he wouldn’t look a gifted horse in the mouth.

_ Bounty: Rogue Enderman  _

_ 50 Emeralds _

While he would love to have 50 emeralds all to himself, endermen were one of the most dangerous mobs for a reason. As a Chosen, he could deal with it better than Sapnap or George, but he still wouldn’t want to do it by himself.

Which was why he asked Techno.

The other Chosen was surprised. “And you’re asking me why?”

Dream just handed him the bounty, letting him read over it. “I’ll split it with you, 50-50.”

Techno read the bounty, glancing up at him multiple times before looking back down. This was after Dream had started wearing a mask, but before Techno started doing the same, which meant Dream could read him much better than Techno could read Dream. “I was getting bored anyway.”

They waited until night to journey out, after Tommy and Tubbo had fallen asleep. The village was situated in a taiga, surrounded by heavy forest all around. Clouds covered the moon, making it even darker. Dream could barely see five feet in front of him, and that’s with his enhanced vision. The only reason he knew where Techno was was because of the red glow of his eyes.

“You know.” Dream paused at the sound of a phantom overhead. The entire place was eerie, and it made him wary. “I don’t know if this is worth 25 emeralds anymore.”

Techno snorted, looking back at him. His face was washed in red due to his eyes, and Dream knew that in the darkness the edges of his mask were tinted green by his hidden glow. “Scared of the dark?”

“No.” He said a little too quickly, jumping at a cracking stick. “I just have a long unlucky streak and my gut says this is  _ not _ the place to be.”

“Lucky you brought me then.” Was all he said, turning back and continuing to walk. Dream followed behind, hand clenching his sword. 

It was a bit annoying, how chill Techno was in the dark while Dream was jumpy. It wasn’t just his unluckiness that made him wary, he’s never been a fan of the dark. It didn’t affect him as much as it used to, but in a new place looking for an  _ Enderman _ of all creatures, he guessed his fear was coming back a bit.

“I could’ve done this without you.” Dream protested, more for the sake of it than anything else. “I’m just as skilled as you are.”

Techno snorts again. “Sure you are, sweetheart. Tell that to your 15-6 lose streak.”

Firstly, Techno’s sarcastic tone when using the word ‘sweetheart’ always made him angry. Secondly, Techno’s been using a sword since he was little- Dream just picked up the skill in the last few years. The fact that he’s won _at all_ is impressive in itself. He’s getting better _very_ _quickly._

He huffed. “I’ll be better than you within the year.”

“Keep tellin’ yourself that, maybe if you wish  _ really _ hard it’ll come true.”

If Dream wasn’t used to Techno’s sarcasm, if he didn’t know that it was his version of banter and teasing, then he might’ve gotten angry. But he did know Techno, he knew that social interaction _ wasn't _ his thing (Techno had a sneaking suspicion that that was actually his weakness, and Dream agreed) so he understood what the man was trying to do.

That little thought kickstarted his mind onto another topic all together. For a Chosen, it was easy to figure out what your strength was, it's just whatever you're best at. For Dream it's his agility, for Techno it's combat, for Tubbo it's his on and off intelligence. Finding out your weakness was much harder.

He had a few ideas for what they all might be. Tubbo was clumsier than a newborn lamb, so he was easier to figure out. Techno had almost extreme social anxiety for anyone new he met- he's gotten better over the years, talking to those he has to for bounties and the like, but he still takes a back seat and let's Wilbur and Phil take the lead. Dream, on the other hand…

Bad luck? He could kind of see that, given his past and how often he gets hurt, but does luck count as a skill? Can you be born luckier than others? He doesn't know.

A hand shot out and stopped him from moving. He frowned, glancing at Techno. He had gone still, bright eyes watching something move in the woods. Dream squinted, taking a second for his eyes to adjust before spotting it too.

There was a figure crouched on the ground, doing something he couldn't see. He squinted at it, trying to see if it was the Enderman eating something. While he couldn't tell, he did hear a warbled voice hiss out of it, like an Enderman.

Techno made a signal, taking out his sword. He started sneaking to the left, extremely light on his feet. They both were, for their sizes. Dream hopped to the right, landing softly on a rock before taking out his own weapon and going forward. They circled the Enderman, going to either side of it. 

It's hard to kill an Enderman, given the fact that it can teleport. They had to get a hit on it to agro it, and one of them needed to catch it's eyes to make it mad. If all goes well it won't teleport- that made things much harder.

He was completely opposite of Techno, the Enderman between them, when he noticed something.

It wasn't an Enderman. It was a  _ human. _

And not just any human. A  _ kid. _

He instantly jerked his hand into the air, signaling for a stop. Techno froze, cocking his head at Dream in confusion. He held up a wait before speaking softly. "Hello?"

The kid jerked his head up, meeting his eyes. He didn't get angry, confirming his conclusion, but he looked scared. Dream frowned. The kid was young, younger than them. What was he, 14, 15? His face was marked too, black lines crisscrossing one side like patchwork. He looked a bit like an Enderman, maybe a hybrid of some sort, but he was most definitely still  _ human. _ "W-who are you?"

A human kid at that, a  _ scared _ human kid.

He put away his sword immediately, Techno doing the same. "Just some passersby. I'm Dream, that's Techno. What are you doing out here, it isn't safe."

"Nowhere to go." The kid spoke in short, cut off words, like he was new to the language. "Lost. R-ranboo."

Techno, the one with the social anxiety, picked up the conversation, voice soft. "Is that your name? Ranboo?" The kid nodded, eyes wide in wary fear. "You're lost? Who did you get separated from?"

Ranboo spoke in some language Dream didn't know before shaking his head. "Mom." He was crying. "Men came- swords- hurt,  _ kill _ her-"

Techno was suddenly right next to the kid, kneeling down in silent comfort. Ranboo grabbed his waist, crying into his chest. Techno's eyes widened, completely at a loss of what he should do next.

Dream, meanwhile, was putting together the pieces. "He's the Enderman we're looking for." He murmured. "He's a hybrid."

Techno gave him a dark look. "We're  _ not _ turning him in."

"Of course not." Dream hummed, thinking. "We could take him with us, but I doubt he'd want to, given our jobs. We could say we dispatched it but didn't get any proof."

"But what about him?" Ranboo didn't seem to realize they were talking about him, still crying. "What's he gonna do?"

Dream paused, something coming to mind. "I have a friend who would take him in." He said after a few moments. "He's a bit far from here though, I wouldn't want him to go alone."

"Phil could take him." Techno said immediately. "He's good with directions and with children."

"That would require us sneaking him into town." Dream replied, wary of the idea. Ranboo looked enough like an Enderman to cause suspicion. "Unless you want to go in and get Phil?"

"What else could we do?" Techno asked, not expecting a real answer. "I don't know if you’ve realized this or not, but this  _ isn't _ our forte."

Dream snorted. "Children aren't our forte? He's older than Tommy, Techno."

"I'm good at stabbing things, not interacting with 'em- you know that." 

"Yeah yeah." He crouched down, meeting Ranboo's eyes for a moment to get his attention. He had stopped crying. "Hey, I know somewhere that you can stay for a while, if you want to. We can get our friend to bring you there- he's really nice and kind."

He was talking slowly, separating his syllables like he was talking to a baby. Mostly because he didn't know how much english Ranboo actually understood.

"Nice?" Ranboo asked slowly, eyes widening. "Safe?"

"Yes, safe." Techno seemed to realize that too. "We have to go get him, he's at the village-"

The word village kicked him into a frenzy, him screaming and shouting about not wanting to go. It took a second to calm him down. "No village." Dream finally said once Ranboo had gotten his breathing under control. "Techno, go."

Techno handed Ranboo off to him, standing up and heading back to the village. He practically sprinted, faster than Dream's  _ ever _ seen him move. Ranboo watched him go. "Gone?"

"No." He said simply, sitting down next to him. The longer Dream looked at him, the younger he seemed to look. "He's getting our friend. You'll like him, he's nice."

Ranboo looked a little lost, both craving comfort and looking wary. After an inner war with himself the comfort won out and he sat next to Dream, leaning against him. Dream allowed it, murmuring little songs he hears Wilbur sing whenever he's trying to lull someone to sleep.

Half an hour or so passed when Techno and Phil arrived. Ranboo seemed to shrink, compressing himself into Dream's side with a scared whimper.

"It's been awhile since I've seen a hybrid." Phil murmured, crouching down a few feet away. His voice was soft and soothing when he spoke. "Hi Ranboo, my name is Phil. My friends say you're lost?"

Phil has this particular power, a power that Wilbur called his dad power. He had some kind of aura about him that made him feel trustworthy, especially to kids. Ranboo peaked his face out of Dream's side, staring at him with curious eyes. "Lost." He agreed.

"Well, I'm here to help you find a place to stay, okay?" Phil said softly, slowly, and Ranboo nodded in much of the same way. "Dream?"

Dream started rambling out the directions to his friend's house, Phil nodding as he went, paying close attention. Lastly, he gave him the coordinates in case he got lost. "Tell Bad when you get there that Dream's pulling in his favor."

Phil nodded, and after a bit more coaxing he got Ranboo to hold his hand. Phil led the two away, leaving Dream and Techno in the dark.

"Well then." Techno said, holding his wet shirt away from his body. Wet with tears most likely. "I was  _ not _ expecting that."

"Me neither." Dream murmured, standing up. "Come on, we have to explain what's happening to the others."

They'd be staying in this town for longer than they thought.

On the way back, just outside of town, they ran into someone else. A weird man covered in dark red robes. He completely ran into Dream, knocking them both over. "Hey!"

"Do you know the Chosen that sings at dawn?" The robed man mutters, staring at Dream with strange intent. Dream tried to move back,  _ very _ confused, but the robed man had basically fallen on top of him. "Do you know the Chosen that sings at dawn?!"

It was obviously a code of some type, and he was obviously failing it. Something in him told him to get away from the man, before he realized that Dream didn't know his code. Pain zapped up one of his arms. "Get  _ off  _ me, man!"

A hand grabbed his bicep and pulled him up, putting him back on his feet. The hand then pulled him behind a body, and he realized it was Techno's hand. Techno had also drawn his sword, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You have three seconds to explain yourself before I start stabbin’."

What the robed man said finally caught up to Dream- he was talking about Chosen. He was talking about Chosen and he had bumped into Dream -a Chosen- and he was obviously part of some kind of cult, which Dream knew like to  _ sacrifice _ Chosen and it suddenly made sense. Techno thought that the robed man was about to  _ attack _ him.

How'd he know Dream was Chosen, though? He's wearing a mask- could he see the glow around the mask's edge? That  _ was _ possible, if he was looking right. They had been face to face moments ago- he might've run into them by accident but then noticed the glow and figured it out.

That was the type of stuff he  _ didn't _ want to happen.

The robed man looked up at Techno and froze. A sickening _ screech _ left his throat before he was up, arms raised to the sky as he almost moaned out a praise. "The Blood God has blessed this land, praise he be! Praise he be praise he be!"

Techno lowered his sword, obviously confused. The man swayed side to side, hands raised in the air. They came down surprisingly quick, grabbing both of Techno's wrists.  _ "Praise he be praise he be praise the Blood God for he has blessed-" _

Dream punched him in the face.

The robed man cried out, letting go and falling back. Techno watched, shock written all over his face. Dream was very confused, they both were, but the thing inside of him still said to keep  _ away _ from the robed man. He extended that to his friend as well. This was just some crazy cult member that they  _ don't have time for. _ "Get out of here!"

_ "Praise he be-" _

Dream kicked him in the chest, anger rushing through his system. Behind him Techno was still frozen in shock. "The next time you mess with us you're losing an arm." He snapped.

The robed man got up, still swaying. He backed away, eyes never leaving Techno as he disappeared into the forest, still chanting about that god.

Dream stared at where he went, making sure he didn't come back, before turning to Techno. "Hey, you okay?"

Techno blinked, seeming to snap out of it. "I should've stabbed him." He murmured. "I'm fine, should be askin' you that question, actually."

"Why-" Techno pointed at his arm, which was bleeding. "Wait, what?"

"He had a knife." Techno clarified as Dream studied the cut on his arm. "He was trying to stab you."

Just his luck. He looked at the wound. "I'm not sure about that." He murmured, a thought coming to mind. "This isn't a kill wound- he barely missed a major artery though. Was he trying to bleed me out?"

Techno pursed his lips, pausing for a second. "You think he believed in that magical Chosen blood nonsense?"

"Maybe." Dream shrugged. "He was obviously a cult member, who knows  _ what _ they teach those guys."

Techno stared at the wound for a few more seconds before turning away. "Come on, we still have to tell the others about Phil."

He could wrap the wound later or get a health potion, it wasn't too bad. After everything that happened that night, the robed man was the last thing on their mind.

They had practically forgotten about it by the time they got back to the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo! And weird cult members! Yayyyyyyy
> 
> Like, comment, and subscribe lmao  
> 3k words


	4. Chapter 4

He found the small orphan child weeks before his kingdom fell.

Techno wasn't one to hang out in crowds, he wasn't one to be around people in general. He enjoyed hiding in the gardens or sneaking into Phil's room with Wilbur to see what the head guard got in his last scrummage outside the kingdom. When he truly wanted to be alone, though, he went to the barn.

Yes, it was smelly and yes the servants always looked at him strange, but they never said anything and no one ever looked for him there. He was truly alone and could focus on whatever _ he _ wanted to do, not what he was required to do, as a prince.

So imagine his surprise when he found a dirty child rummaging through his secret food stash like a little raccoon.

The child was almost feral when he got caught, eyes widening and hissing as he tried to make a run for it. Techno, with his superior skills, caught the child's collar before he even made it three steps. "You should know better then to take what isn't yours, kid."

Something changed in the child then, like he wasn't expecting Techno to talk to him (the guards would probably just punish him if they caught him). The child calmed significantly, eyes going from slits to wide before filling with fake innocence. "It was just lying around." He protested, before frowning. "And how are  _ you _ calling me a kid?! You are too!"

He's old enough to be crowned king, if something happened to his father. Techno's grandmother was crowned queen at 16, it wasn't uncommon. He scoffed. "Says the runt. Why are you going through my stuff?"

"I'm hungry!" The child thankfully ignored his runt comment. "Come on, you're a noble aren't you? Can't spare a few pieces of bread for the needy?"

Of course he could, he just rather  _ give _ it to them than have them  _ take  _ it. Techno glared, pulling the back of the child's collar up until he was held off the ground, curled up like a kitten being held by its mother. "Well, maybe if you had  _ asked, _ I would've helped you."

"Why are you even hiding food out here anyway?!" The child retorted, genuinely confused. "This is a  _ barn _ and you are so  _ obviously _ a noble, seriously the gettup is  _ ridiculous. _ Either way, why are you hiding food away like a squirrel?!"

"Why are you digging it up like a raccoon?" Techno huffed, giving up and dropping the kid. "Ugh, it doesn't matter. Take it, not like I  _ wanted it _ or anything."

The child immediately scurried back over to the stash, filling up his woven bag with all the food he could carry. "Pleasure doing business with you." The child smirked, before he frowned again. "So, what's your name?"

"Techno." He half hoped the child recognized the name, but was relieved when he obviously didn't. "You?"

"The great Tommy Innit!" The boy puffed out his chest with a grin. He was so dirty- covered in mud and dust with sticks and twigs stuck in his either brown or blond hair. Techno couldn't tell with the amount of dirt in it. Really, Tommy looked like he hadn't seen the inside of a bath in months. He knows there are plenty of children running the streets of his kingdom, but there were plenty of places set up to  _ help _ those kids too. Maybe Tommy didn't know about them, or his parents didn't let him go?

"Where are your parents, Tommy?" He decided to ask, because seriously the child obviously needed help. He was skin and bones too, and if he wasn't smiling Techno was sure he'd look almost dead from malnutrition. He's pretty sure he knows the answer to his own question even before Tommy opens his mouth.

"Don't got none." The kid hit his chest with his fist. "I'm what they call 'dependant'!"

"You mean independent." Techno corrected.

"...what's that?"

"Nevermind." Okay, no way he could let this continue. Firstly, this was the royal barn, full of royal animals and closed off to the rest of the world, so the fact that Tommy got in was already impressive in itself. Secondly, Techno isn't cold blooded. He can't let this continue. "Come on, let's go get you a dad."

He turned around and started walking back to the castle. Tommy gawked and followed, confused. "You can just do that?!" He asked.

"Yeah, it's easy." The prince nodded to a few knights walking by, making sure to keep eye contact when they saw Tommy- a little warning not to give him any trouble. They made it into the castle with no problems, and Techno smirked at the amazed look on Tommy's face. "First time inside here?"

"Dude, how high up are you?!" Tommy practically skipped forward, turning around and looking at everything. Techno had to make sure he didn't trip when they reached the stairs. "I thought only the royal family and their close guards lived here!"

"They do." He agreed, getting up the stairs and knocking on a door a few yards down. "Phil, you there?"

There was a soft 'come in' before Techno opened the door. "Hey Phil, I got you a kid."

"...A what?" Phil was behind his desk, writing something down. He looked up to try and figure out what Techno was talking about, but he couldn't see Tommy from his angle.

"Here." Techno grabbed the boy under his arms and held him up, arms reaching towards Phil. "He's yours now."

"What, Techno-" Phil carefully took Tommy from him, setting him down and patting his head. "You can't just take a child and  _ give them _ to someone else!"

"He just did." Tommy said, voice deadpanned. "Besides, he didn't take me. I  _ followed." _

Phil gave him an unimpressed look. Tommy wilted. Phil sighed. "What's going on?"

"Well, Phil, we got a small homeless orphan child here." Techno crossed his arms. "You know how I feel about orphans, so we should unorphan him as soon as possible."

Phil stared at him. "This isn't like you at all, sire."

He hated the honorifics. He hated that Phil was  _ using _ them against him. His nose twitched, eyes flaring. Luckily, Tommy didn't see.

He's surprised Tommy hasn't already noticed. Glowing red eyes usually call some attention.

"You said you wanted another kid, Phil." He said instead. "So, here you go. Come on, he's got nowhere else to go." He paused. "Wilbur would like him."

"Using my own son against me." Phil sounded amused. "Okay, fine. What's your name, son?"

"Tommy Innit!" The entire conversation seemed to have gone over his head. "And I'm a big man who gets all the girls!"

"Sure." Phil ruffled his hair. "How do you feel about staying with us for a while, Tommy?"

Tommy frowned, looking conflicted. "Will there be food and girls?"

Phil faltered. "There will be food."

"Good enough!"

And so Tommy stayed in the castle for a few days. At first it wasn't too bad, but he met Wilbur on the second day and everything escalated from there. Phil soon figured out that maybe raising a kid from the streets in a castle  _ wasn't _ the best idea.

So he took a few days off and travelled to his vacation home with Tommy, determined to get some food into his stomach and get him healthy again. When Phil returned Tommy stayed behind at his vacation home. When Techno asked why he left him, Phil got a strange look on his face.

"I… don't know." He said after a moment. "I just... had a feeling."

His feeling was correct, because a week later the castle was attacked and his kingdom was destroyed. If Tommy was there, he might've been killed with the rest of his citizens. Instead, when he and Phil and Wilbur arrived at the remote village, covered in blood and soot, Tommy was waiting for them.

  
  


Dream first met Tubbo in a dream.

_ "Did it work?" _ The kid was young, maybe 4 or 5, with fluffy brown hair and clothes too big for him. His eyes were abnormal and his words slurred due to his youth.  _ "It did! Hi!" _

Dream knew he was dreaming, which wasn't normal. He also knew that the kid in front of him wasn't normal. His eyes gave it away.

He was like Dream.

_ "Uh… what?" _

_ "Oh yeah, you don't know." _ The kid raised a hand and color (lilac and baby blue and light pink) started seeping into the blackness around them.  _ "I made a sleeping potion that connects Chosen! I wanted to meet someone else like me. And it worked!" _

Dream frowned. He didn't like being Chosen, so seeing someone actively  _ looking _ for other ones was unnerving.  _ "Neat, good job, but I was, uh, you know,  _ **_sleeping,_ ** _ so if you could-" _

The dream broke before he could finish and he was back to sleep before he realized. It was so strange that he chalked it up to a weird dream and went on with his life.

A whole year passed before he saw him again, back in another dream.  _ "Finally, I was starting to think it really was broken. Hi! I'm Tubbo!" _

This little boy, this Tubbo, somehow created a potion that linked dreams and spoke like any other teenager would, minus the actual experience behind the words he was saying. It had to be because he's Chosen- it had to be his ability. Impressed as he was, Dream was still tired.  _ "Come on kid, I was sleeping." _

_ "Ah, well, that can wait." _ Tubbo looked embarrassed.  _ "Cause, well, you see, I kinda… lost my family." _

Dream blinked, startled.  _ "You… What happened?!" _

_ "Well, there was a bee and-" _

Dream realized then that Tubbo's family hadn't _ died, _ he had just actually _ lost _ them.  _ "Tubbo, I don't know where you are, how am I supposed to help you?" _

_ "Oh, I got that handled. Uh-"  _ Tubbo looked around.  _ "You should probably wake up now." _

The dream ended and he woke up to knocking on his door.

Tubbo stood outside, shivering in the cold air. "Hi!" He sneezed, nose a bright red color.

And that's how Dream became a parent. Or a big brother, one of the two.

It was weird, raising a child. Dream's parents left when he was very young, just a bit older than Tubbo was now. Dream doesn't know why they left, but they left a nice house behind and at least Dream could thank them for that. He had been on his own since- the only parental figure he had was the lady who worked at the inn (who was only a few years older than him, even though he saw her as a mother). She would check up on him a few times a week, always bringing him a bag of food and a slice of cake. She made sure he had everything he would need- clothes that fit, wood for the fire, schoolwork, she was the reason he was still alive, basically.

He will never forget the look on her face when she arrived the next day and saw Tubbo sitting at the dinner table. 

"Oh." Was all Tubbo said, stuffing his mouth with food. "You must be Puffy."

She started bringing extra food after that, along with new clothes and blankets and Dream would never get over her generosity- her kindness for two random kids that just lived in the same village as her. The other adults weren't as nice- Dream had a few different friends, but their parents all disliked him because he was Chosen. They acted like he was cursed.

He  _ felt _ like he was cursed.

But then there was Tubbo, a little Chosen boy who didn't _ care. _ He was  _ happy _ that he was Chosen, that he was different, and he didn't _ care _ that the others looked at him weird. He was so young, but he was already stronger than Dream himself.

Maybe that's why, when he and Sapnap ran away, he left Tubbo behind with Puffy. Dream knew that Tubbo needed a real  _ place _ to stay and grow up in, and taking him with them wasn't fair to him. He wanted Tubbo to be better, because he already had proven that he was.

But only a day after he had left, when he and Sapnap had taken shelter in a cave, he had a dream.

_ "You left me." _ Tubbo wasn't crying, but his nose was wrinkled and he was frowning, clearly upset even with the calm tone.  _ "That was rude." _

_ "It's safer for you there." _ Dream tried to explain.  _ "Puffy-" _

_ "Safer in a town that hates me? I'm not stupid, Dream, it's very obvious how they feel about me." _ He sometimes hated how smart Tubbo was, because even though he wasn't mature in the slightest he figured things out a bit too quickly and it was causing his childhood to slip away. It was one of the reasons he left him there- Tubbo needed a  _ friend. _ A friend  _ his _ age that would let him  _ be _ the child that he was.

He was hoping that once he left the adults would let him play with their kids. Tubbo is obviously Chosen, but his eyes don't give it away as much as other Chosen. He could trick them if need be- he was smart enough to do that.  _ "Tubbo-" _

_ "It doesn't matter." _ Tubbo cut him off, his calm tone breaking for a second and Dream could see the  _ hurt _ etched across his face. The boy sniffled for a second, before grinning, as if trying to hide his feelings. " _ Wake up, Dream." _

He did so, and the moment he did his stomach clenched and he thought he was going to hurl before realizing that it was just deep set guilt rolling around inside of him.

They made it to George's village the next day. Tubbo arrived two days after that.

"I seriously don't understand how you do that." Dream commented, not bothering to scold him for leaving Puffy. After the dream he knew Tubbo would. While he still didn't understand how Tubbo always found him, he'd given up on figuring that out too.

It all worked out in the end anyway. He got to keep his little brother, and Tubbo found the friend he so desperately needed a few hours later.

  
  


They arrived with their bounty just before midnight.

Dream didn't expect the innkeeper to be awake at that hour to accept the bounty and give them their reward, but the old man was up and about, cleaning off the inn's shelves. "I was waitin' for ya." He grinned as he looked at the evidence they brought back. "Looks like it went well- with not a single scratch on any of ya!"

Dream's hand twitched, instinctively wanting to come up and rub his still sore shoulder. George's potion had hidden the wound completely, but he could still feel some phantom pain from it.

(Ha,  _ phantom _ pain. He's clever.)

They turned in the body parts and the innkeeper deemed it a job well done, handing over the emeralds. He split it up with his team, taking a few emeralds from his own third to give to Wilbur and Phil. "As thanks." He explained.

Wilbur didn't look like he was going to take it, but Dream dropped it into his open palm before he could take it away. He held two up for Techno, eyebrow raised even though he knew the other man couldn't see it.

Back in society, Techno had put on his mask, hiding his eyes and face from sight. It made it hard to read him. "I don't take pity money."

"You take all the money." Wilbur snorted, clapping his shoulder as he walked by. "Come on, I hear Tommy running about upstairs."

He and Techno held their stares for another few seconds before they looked away. Dream was the first to follow Wilbur upstairs. Tubbo's room was quiet, but he could also easily hear his voice in another room. He had obviously found Tommy while they were out hunting.

Wilbur went to open the door when it slammed open from the other way, a child jumping out. "Wilbur! Did you know Tubbo would be here?!"

He didn't seem to care for an answer, as he immediately continued on. "He was just in the other room, and I heard him humming through the wall and I went like 'hey is that Tubbo?' and he said 'Tommy?!' all surprised like and I said 'the one and only!' and he was like 'big man!' and-"

"That didn't happen." Tubbo appeared from the room, hand grabbing Tommy's sleeve, as if to stop him from talking somehow. "He thought I was 'imprisoned' like him. He was gonna break the wall and 'bust me out'."

Tommy's face turned red, in either embarrassment or anger. "They always leave us out of their business Tubbo-"

"You really care about trading that much?" Tubbo cut him off, raising an eyebrow. "Merchant stuff isn't fun."

Tommy sighed dramatically as he and Wilbur glanced at each other. It was hard, trying to hide the fact that they're bounty hunters from the two (given how smart Tubbo was). They pretended to be merchants, which explained why they were always traveling. Still, it was hard to explain hunting injuries and the like on merchant work.

It was annoying at first. The only reason they didn't tell them was because they  _ knew _ Tommy would try to join them during hunts and was a danger to himself and everyone he was around. It made sense not to tell Tommy, but  _ Tubbo _ could handle himself, and actually had enough common sense to understand why he couldn't join in on the hunts. Tubbo wasn't good at keeping secrets from Tommy, though, so there's a high likelihood that if Tubbo learned Tommy would learn too. Which left them both in the dark.

Yay.

He shifted, trying to hide his shoulder from view. It was healed, but the hoodie wasn't. He'd need a new one- one not ripped and covered in blood. He's just happy the dim candlelight of the hallway kept him pretty well hidden. "Shouldn't you both be asleep?"

"We were getting there." Tubbo protested, gesturing to the room. Inside they had taken the blankets and pillows off the bed, spreading them out on the floor. There were a lot of pillows- they must've gone into Tubbo's room too. "It's a sleepover!"

"No it's not!" Tommy hissed. "That's for babies, we're men! We're having a manly doze until noon."

Dream didn't bother with him this time. He's too tired. "Well, don't stay up too late. We're leaving tomorrow."

"Awe." Tubbo pouted, eyes wide and filled with sorrow. "Can't we stay longer? I wanna hang out with Tommy some more."

Wilbur didn't hide his grin. "We're leaving tomorrow too. Going west, yeah?"

"Yep." Dream nodded. "Same as us. Hmm, funny coincidence."

Tubbo caught on immediately, his telling grin giving it away. Tommy took a bit longer, blinking slowly before his face lit up. "Are we traveling together?! Awesome!"

"You better enjoy it, twerp, we're doing it for you." Wilbur ruffled his hair. "Now go to bed." He pushed the kid into his room, closing the door behind him. Inside the room, Dream could hear the two chattering happily and quickly. "They're happy."

"'Course they are, they're best friends." Dream adjusted his mask, looking down the hall. The chatter inside had quieted, and everything was going still. "You got any idea how long Techno wants to stick together for?"

"You tired of us already?" Wilbur teased, running a hand through his own hair. "Not sure, actually. You can ask in the morning, but I doubt he even knows himself."

They moved away from the kids' door, but instead of going to his own room he followed Wilbur back downstairs. The others had retired for the night, but Wilbur looked wide awake, grabbing his lute that he left down there and walking outside. Dream followed, having nothing better to do. They walked to a bench just outside the inn, sitting down and relaxing. Wilbur started strumming a few cords as Dream looked up at the sky, trying to find constellations but failing. He was tired, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to go to sleep. He felt… restless, for some reason.

Wilbur, on the other hand, looked completely zoned into his music. He was humming now, something upbeat and bouncy as he strummed. It was weird to hear in the dead of night, when everything else was asleep, but he still liked it.

He never understood why Wilbur decided to become a bounty hunter instead of a musician or bard. He knows that Wilbur used to perform regularly at his old kingdom, before it was torn apart. He had a promising career, so he's surprised Wilbur would just give it all away. At first Dream thought he did just to stay with his family, Phil and Techno and Tommy, but when he asked Wilbur said he enjoyed hunting.

"I don't really match the threatenin' type, do I?" He had chuckled. "I'm tall but noodly, yeah? I can pick up a sword well enough to scare off those who can't fight, but against anyone other than a beginner I'm terrible."

"Yet you finish as many bounties as I do." Dream had replied, a question forming in his head, because it was  _ true. _ For how bad at fighting Wilbur was compared to the rest of them, he held his own when it came to bounties. "What's your secret?"

He had laughed. "Sometimes, words are stronger than weapons, Dream."

He hadn't taken him too seriously back then. Sure, words could be helpful, but he'd take a blade any day over trying to talk someone into  _ not _ attacking him. He learned how to fight so that he  _ wouldn't _ have to do that.

But then, a few months later, a witch had caught them by surprise and Wilbur had talked his way out of their demise, all while Dream was incapacitated on the floor, vomiting up bugs. Not only had he gotten the witch  _ not _ to kill them, but he charmed her into retracting the curse she had put on Dream. Then, he had distracted her long enough for Dream to finally get back his senses and chop her head off.

Charisma seemed  _ pretty _ important after that. He couldn't deny that fact.

He didn't realize he was swaying on the bench until Wilbur grabbed his shoulder, making him jump. "Potions don't restore your energy, Dream." His voice was soft. "You should go to bed."

He wished he could. "Can't." His voice was a bit slurred. "I- something feels… wrong."

Wilbur frowned, face pinched. He sighed, strumming a soft cord on his lute. "Do you know any constellations, Dream?"

"A few." He murmured, sinking into the sounds of the music. "But I can't find them up there."

With one hand still strumming, Wilbur raised his other, pointing at a group of stars next to the moon. His finger started tracing a line between them. "That's the witch's hat. It's always right next to the black cat- you see it?"

His vision was getting blurry as the combination of the music, Wilbur's voice, and the stars made him drift off, but he could still see it. "Yeah, I see it."

"That one is almost always visible. My favorite is the siren- see its tail over there?" Wilbur pointed to the other side of the sky. "It curls around that cluster of stars. If you follow it you'll find the rest of its body. It's always singing, up there. Do you have a favorite?"

"Mmmmm." Leave it to Wilbur to find a way to help him sleep. "The runner."

"The runner?" Wilbur sounded surprised. "Not the hunter?"

"I like being chased." Dream murmured, blinking slowly. "Like in tag- it gives you a rush."

"Okay then, no kidding here." He chuckled softly, pointing straight up in the sky. "That's the hunter right there- and the outline of his bow is pointed right at the runner. Am I gonna have'ta carry you back inside?"

"Probably." He had closed his eyes after seeing the runner, almost completely gone. Something still felt wrong, like something bad was going to happen, but it had been pushed into the corner of his mind. After the day he's had he needs his rest. His body understood.

He fell asleep on the bench, listening to Wilbur singing and tracing out constellations. Above them, in the inn, Techno tossed and turned in his sleep, body tense and waiting.

He had a bad feeling, too.

  
  
  
  


In the basement of the church, a nether portal crackled to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little note here- Tubbo was lying when he said he lost his family *mischievous cackles*
> 
> Also I love ‘looking at constellations to help you fall asleep’ scenes, they’re my favorite 
> 
> Like, comment, and subscribe lmao  
> 4k words


	5. Chapter 5

The world is on fire when he wakes.

Techno coughs, the smell of smoke in the air and burning in his lungs is much too reminiscent of his kingdom burning. Stumbling out of bed he grabs his sword, the deja vu hitting him even stronger.

Then his door is broken open and Wilbur’s there, cutting off his memories. It  _ wasn’t _ the same,  _ it wasn’t. _ Remember where you are, Techno, remember-

“Someone opened a portal!” Wilbur explains hastily, gripping Techno’s arm and steering him out of the room. The inn is on fire, half of it already gone. “The nether is pouring out into the overworld!”

There’s the sound of a loud smack, and a magma cube slams down in front of them. Wilbur full on screams, and while Techno isn’t much better, he’s able to at least stab the thing. In magma cube fashion it dies easily, but as its body deflates and melts several more start wiggling out of it, smaller than before.

Wilbur stomps on one, killing it and the smaller versions that would’ve jumped out. “We gotta find the others!”

“Tell that to the red slime.” Techno grumbles, slicing the cubes in half. He hears a scream and darts towards it. The innkeeper is surrounded by fire and a blaze is hovering above him. Techno stabs it in the back of the skull, throwing the body away from them. If the situation wasn’t dire, he’s sure that George would be having a field day, with all the potion materials he could get.

The innkeeper sputters his thanks, turning tail and running. He hears a half behind him and immediately goes to slash, barely stopping himself. A zombie piglin looks back at him, head turned in curiosity. He exhales harshly. “Go back to the nether, man. It’s safer there, funnily enough.”

The zombie piglin stares at him for another moment before turning and walking away.

“Techno!” Someone shouts, and he turns towards the noise. Tommy is rushing towards him, eyes wide in fear and panic. Phil is hot on his tail, taking the brunt of weapons coming their way. Protecting Tommy while he’s at it. “I- I can’t find Tubbo, Techno! I woke up and there was fire and he was  _ gone, _ Techno we gotta find-”

“We’ll find him.” He assured, because there was no way they were going to leave without doing so. Dream and his friends would raise hell if they couldn’t find him, it wouldn’t be a problem of motivation. “But you can’t run off- stay near Phil.”

“I want to help.” Tommy pouted, eyes wide as he held a dagger in his hands. He seemed so small, it made Techno’s heart clench.

He pushed the kid’s head down, a ghast's fireball flying over it. The resulting explosion rocked the ground. “You can help by staying with Phil.” He locked eyes with Wilbur, who was where he left him, beckoning him over. “Where are the others?”

“Dream’s looking for the nether portal-” Wilbur said in a rush, barely raising his lute in time. A wither skeleton’s sword smashed into it, almost toppling him with the weight. Techno dearmed it by taking off it’s arms. “-to close it. Sapnap’s searching for Tubbo and George is helping the villagers. We’re on cleanup duty.”

There’s the sound of an explosion and a body flies into the air. It seems to flail as it does so, as if surprised. The body hits the side of a ghast, causing the ghast to scream and fall to the ground. They land nearby, and he sees the person stab a sword into the ghast’s side before hopping off.

“Curse my luck.” Dream muttered, limping over. His mask is covered in soot and gunpowder, along with his clothes. “The portal’s destroyed!”

With the portal gone, it meant that no more mobs would be joining the ones already here. He nodded, turning away from him and towards the pack of mobs in front of them. As the Chosen with a combat proficiency, it was kind of  _ his _ job to take the mobs on, even if he didn’t want to.

(Why would he want to?)

He’s already so  _ tired. _

Pushing the thought aside he picked a fight with a group of blazes. They all fired at the same time, and Techno ducked under, swinging his sword in a high arch. It hit them all, breaking one of the flaming rods surrounding them. He grunted, stepping to the side of one to use as a shield. The others fired, and Techno kicked the one he was hiding behind into the one next to it, toppling them both before he killed them. He dove to the ground, barely missing another ball of flame before jumping back up, slashing his sword right through it’s head.

Before he could kill the others he heard a snort and the sound of running. He barely had time to tense before a hog rammed into his side, barely missing him with its tusks. Biting his lip to stop a pained cry, he grabbed the thing by the tusks and spun, throwing it at the blazes. It burned the hog almost immediately, the thing squealing right before it caught on literal fire. The weight of it also crushed one of the blazes it landed on.

After that it was easy to clean up the few still left.

There's a shout of pain and Techno turns towards it. Wilbur's getting surrounded by Piglins, one of them has him by the hair, yanking on it and throwing him to the ground. The others are crowding around him.

Techno knows Piglin customs. He finds them interesting. Which means he knows what they're doing.

When a Piglin sees someone without gold on them they don't think that they don't have gold, they think they're  _ hiding _ gold. Hiding gold  _ from _ them. When they find someone like that they normally push them to the ground to trap them before cutting into their insides to look for the gold that person has to be hiding. That, of course, kills the person.

That's what the piglins were doing to Wilbur.

Wilbur let out a half shout as his head hit the ground, curling up right before the piglins started grabbing limbs, forcing him to straighten out as another piglin readied it's sword.

Techno growled, stepping forward. Another piglin got in his way, and he punched it so hard that it flew into the side of a building. The piglin with the sword raised his hands, getting ready to plunge it into Wilbur's stomach.

There was a sickening sound, mixed with the clattering of a sword dropping to the ground right before a decapitated head fell on his stomach instead.

Techno glared at the other piglins as the headless one fell to the ground.  _ "Who's next?" _

The smell of blood has never been so  _ sweet. _

By the time he's killed the last one Wilbur is up and helping him, grabbing his dropped bow and aiming high in the sky. He released a single arrow, and Techno heard the ugly cry of a ghast dying. Wilbur turned towards him. "Thanks."

"You're gonna give me a heart attack someday." Techno groaned, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. It  _ wasn't _ the same, they weren't  _ after _ him, the castle was  _ gone- _

The other man gave him a lopsided smile, but the flash in his eyes gave him away. He understood the similarities too. "Come on, we have to find Tubbo and they're getting in the way."

They continued to cut their way through mobs, the amount of them slowly dwindling. He didn't let Wilbur get far away from him- he didn't want something else to happen. It seemed like Wilbur was in the same boat and stayed close to him anyway.

He ducked, missing the graze of the last wither skeleton around, before Wilbur bashed it's head in. As it died he felt a new silence come over them. Wilbur was panting heavily next to him, and he was shaking in exertion. There were other humans talking, shouting, and the fire crackled around them, but he heard no mobs.

Had they… had they got them all?

Techno shuttered, lowering his sword. His arms were aching, almost shaking from exhaustion. He felt unsteady on his own feet. Around him, the town burned as the citizens tried their best to save it.

Soon there'll be nothing left to save. It was already too late.

He's so _ tired. _

"Tubbo!"

Techno's head jerked over to the familiar cry, adrenaline kicking back in in a painful way at the sound of Tommy screaming. He located the boy quickly, standing at the edge of town and staring at two people- Tubbo, and a cloaked man he couldn't recognize.

Maybe it was the exhaustion that caused him to lose memory, but he blinked and suddenly he was next to Tommy, in front of him, sword once again up and ready to fight. He forced his body to stop swaying, the adrenaline making him focus but also fail.

The cloaked man had Tubbo by the back of his collar, as if he was dragging him somewhere. As Techno got closer he changed his position, placing a knife against the boy's neck. Tubbo gasped, squirming in fear. His eyes were bright in the firey night.

He must've lost time again because he blinked and suddenly Dream and Sapnap and Wilbur were there too. "Let him  _ go." _ Dream demanded, voice hard.

"In a second." The cloaked man murmured, pulling something out of his pocket. An empty vial. "No hard feelings, right? It's just business."

"I'm going to  _ kill _ you." Sapnap snarled, twitching in place like he was just  _ waiting _ to attack. 

Behind them Tommy was trying to move closer, only to be stopped by Wilbur. "Tubbo!"

Tubbo's eyes went teary at his voice, and then the cloak man had one of his arms in his hand, vial under it and knife swiping over skin, letting a river of red fall into the vial.

He was… he was…

He was  _ bleeding _ him.

It was at that exact moment that Techno remembered a rumor his parents used to warn him about, told him to stay away from shady places because of. People want Chosen's blood, even if there isn't any magical properties they  _ want _ it because they  _ think _ there could be a chance that it  _ does _ have magical properties and-

_ 'A royal and a Chosen. You'll sell for a lot.' _

He doesn't know if it was fear or anger that made him act, that made him jump forward like an idiot and risk Tubbo's life. Whatever it was it was strong, and he obviously surprised the man by moving so fast. With the man's grip being on Tubbo's arm and collar, it was easy to tear the kid away with one hand while aiming for the man's throat with his sword.

The cloaked man was fast though, dropping back almost immediately. He capped the vial of blood in his hands, pocketing it and the knife. Tubbo shook next to him, and he pushed the child behind him. The cloaked man sighed, as if annoyed. "Come on, just a little more?"

"Step any closer and you're dead." He warned, eyes narrowed behind his mask. There was a sound behind him, the sound of footsteps, and he heard Tubbo crying, muffled sobs because someone was holding him close and he relaxed slightly, knowing he was safe.

The cloaked man sighed once more, turning on his heels and dashing into the forest. Techno went to follow when everything went woozy and he staggered.

"Woah." Hands caught him and when had Phil arrived? The older man forced him to sit down, hands around his head as he checked him. "You're running on fumes, Techno, relax. Did you sleep at all?"

"Not well." He murmured, but that didn't really matter, at all. He looked around, glancing at the destroyed town. "They're all gone?"

"Yes." Phil nodded, eyes weary. "Most of the townspeople are safe as well, but the village is ruined."

At least the people were safe. He nods, turning towards the others.

Dream was kneeling on the ground, holding Tubbo as the boy clutched on, sobbing harshly. Wilbur had one of his arms, gently cleaning and bandaging the wound as Tommy tried to coax him out with whispered words. Tommy was unharmed, thankfully, with the only show of a fight being the dirt and soot smeared in him. The others were standing around them, almost like they were guarding them.

"You hurt?" He asked Phil, scanning the man to check for himself. Besides his overall tiredness he seemed fine, and Phil confirmed it with a shake of his head. "Good."

The fire cackled behind them, loud and sharp as it contrasted Tubbo's cries.

  
  


The cloaked man dropped the vial into his contractor's hand. "Yeah I know its not a lot but your 'help' wasn't there and he had a whole  _ group _ of bounty hunters protecting him."

Not to mention that he wasn't really comfortable with the harming, killing, or taking of children. He didn't sign up for that. That's not what bounty hunting is.

The contractor sighed. "This is good, but we still need  _ more. _ The whole body, preferably.  _ Alive." _

The cloaked man glared. "I'm not kidnapping a kid just for you to drain him."

The contractor arched an eyebrow. "You'd kill a helpless woman but you draw the line at children?"

The woman had a quick death. Draining someone's blood wouldn't be quick. "Not the same." He muttered. "That's torture."

"We won't drain him then." The contractor complied. "We won't  _ tell _ you what we're doing. You just bring him to us. We'll pay you double."

Something in his gut rolled, but that amount of money… "Fine." He finally said. "But I expect that help this time."

The contractor smiled wide. "They were preparing. My members are ready now." He gestured towards a side door. "And don't forget about red eyed Chosens."

He held back a scoff- as if he'd  _ ever _ find one for those. "Yeah yeah, I got it."

He's starting to regret taking a bounty from cultists.

The cloaked man disappeared through the door, and his contractor stared at the vial in his hand. He murmured something softly, waving a hand over the vial.

The vial lit up, turning a turquoise color before fading back to red. He smiled, setting it on the table.

That Chosen wasn't a vessel for anything they cared about. They could kill him without worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He really just wants a nap lol
> 
> I'm also really excited cause I made two characters (that we haven't seen yet but are in the tags) badasses and I never knew I needed that headcanon in my life 
> 
> Like, comment, and subscribe lmao  
> 2.5k words


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